Jared gripped
Ray’s upper arms and shook him again. No response. Nobody sleeps that soundly.
For Christ’s sake, he looked catatonic, like the woman in The Fall of the House
of Usher, who’s pronounced dead and then buried alive. Now Jared was scared. He
considered throwing cold water on him, maybe calling for an ambulance. He shook
Ray again.

Slowly, Ray
opened his right eye. An explosion in Afghanistan took his left eye years ago.

“Jared?” Ray
mumbled.

“Yeah, Jared.
Were you expecting someone else?”

Ray looked
around the room. He seemed confused.

“Snap out of
it, man. I couldn’t wake you.”

“I'm awake.
I’m awake.” Ray stretched. He looked like he wanted to go back to sleep.”

“You scared
the hell out of me.”

“Sorry. I
must have been dreaming.”

“Must have
been some dream. There’s a wet spot on the bed.”

Ray checked
the sheets. He looked surprised. “Sorry.”

“Forget it,
Sexy.” Jared climbed into bed with him. “Tell me all the dirty details. I want
to get off too.”

“You used to
call me Baby?” Jared spoke more harshly than he intended.

“Fuck the
sheets, and the time. We own the company. Let’s go in late. Better yet, let’s
take the day off.”

“We can’t
afford to close shop, even for one day. Too many P.I.’s in Jersey. The
completion is killing us. ”

“We’re the
new guys in town. All we need is a big profile case and the clients will be
knocking our door down.”

“I hope so.”
Ray headed toward the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower.”

“Come back,
I’ll give you a tongue bath instead.”

The bathroom
door slammed behind Ray. Worried, Jared lay back with his arms under his head.
Ray never wanted to fuck anymore. He always had an excuse. I’m too tired. It’s late. I’m drunk. I have a headache.

The sex had
been dwindling for months. Six months to be exact. Ever since Remus showed up
and screwed up their lives. If he was just another man Jared could handle the
competition, but Remus was larger than life, a superhero who’d come from Ray’s
past to claim him.

Author Bio and Links

Gale Stanley grew up in Philadelphia PA. She was the kid who always had
her nose in a book, her head in the clouds, and her hands on a pad and pencil.

Alpha's Claim Anthology

The Crimson Rope Anthology

Spanish Diversion

Sinsperationally Yours Anthology

Welcome Aboard

A Decade of Longing

The Mercenary Tales

The Mercenary Knight

The Mercenary Slave (Book 2 of The Mercenary Tales)

The Lost Mercenary (Book 3 of The Mercenary Tales)

Wednesday Briefs

Your Hump Day Free Read

Nanowrimo

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